Ichigo&Senna
by Ametsu
Summary: Chapter 3 is up. Warning, chapter includes IchigoxRenji moments. Also expect IchigoxRukia moments.
1. Summer Plan

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its Characters**

**Author's Notes **

**Alright, this will be my second story so far and if you are still wondering, yes this is another IchigoxSenna Story. I'm hoping for this one to be numerous times better then my last one and I'm also hoping to take things slowly with this one unlike the other which was too fast paced.**

I appreciate all the reviews left from everyone who took their time to review my last story and I hope that you, the reader will be satisfied with this one. The story will be original, and in no way will it involve Shinigami's, Soul Society or Hollows so don't expect to see Ichigo go Bankai in this story. 

**Chapter 1: Summer Plan**

It was a Monday morning in Karakura town.

People were starting their regular daily lives like work or school for those who are still studying for their future. Not many had dedicated lives as many others spend their time causing crime or not doing much for the society.

That day a young fifteen year old boy named Ichigo Kurosaki walked by the side walk heading for school while carrying his school bag with his left arm and his right hand resting on his pant pocket.

"Kurosaki-Kun!!" A female student shouted while running towards Ichigo who stopped on his tracks the moment he heard her voice.

"Oh, hey Inoue" Ichigo responded with his usual manner.

"Kurosaki-Kun did you get enough sleep yesterday?, how are you feeling today?" Inoue asked while they started walking to School.

"I guess I'm doing alright" Ichigo flatly responded.

"Oh.. I see" Inoue replied with a bit of disappointment. She always wanted to have a decent conversation with Ichigo but he always seems to try to avoid them with short replies that sounded like they wanted to end or stop any conversations.

"Oi!, Inoue!!" another female shouted from a distance.

"Tatsuki!" Inoue shouted back with enthusiasm. Both Tatsuki and Inoue have been best friends since the first grade and have never been apart.

Both of them began to talk about their morning and what they had to eat, of course Inoue was such a terrible cook so she had trouble making anything good, luckily for her, her older brother always had breakfast ready for her before he left for work.

Ichigo felt sick of listening to their blabbering which he was obviously not interested on. He began to pick up the pace to lose them while they continued to talk.

"So what do you think, Kurosaki-kun!?" Inoue turned her attention to Ichigo after a conversation with Tatsuki but Ichigo was long gone.

"He's already way ahead of us, were we really walking that slow?" Tatsuki wondered while pointing her finger at the direction to where Ichigo was at for Inoue to see.

"Ah!, we better catch up to him and tell him our plan!" Inoue said running ahead of Tatsuki.

"Oi!, Inoue wait up!" Tatsuki said loudly as she ran after her.

Ichigo finally made it to the school gate as he continued to walk now at a normal pace. Sado walked towards him and raised his right hand "Hello... Ichigo"

"Hey, Chad" Ichigo greeted while the two began to walk to the school entrance.

"... Its Sado" Sado tried to correct him as usual but Ichigo flatly ignored him as he greeted someone down the hallways "Hey, Ishida!" Ichigo greeted while delivering a short wave.

"Good morning, Kurosaki. I see your hair looks as stupid as ever" Ishida said while slightly lifting his glasses with his two right fingers.

Ichigo was irritated at that comment and showed it when he grind his teeth and making a fist, threatening to pound the crap out of him but was quickly stopped by Sado before that happened.

"Quit being barbaric and lets go, class is about to start" Ishida said as he walked back towards class.

Sado let Ichigo go as the two of them followed. The first bell rang and all the students began to walk towards their classrooms to start their first class.

Ichigo sat on his chair as he rested his school bag on his desk in front of him. Sado sat behind him while Ishida sat in front of him. Both Inoue and Tatsuki arrived at class a minute later as they sat across from where Ichigo and the rest sat at.

The rest of the students sat down while the final bell rang. The teacher walked in the classroom and walked towards his desk. He sat a few documents down his desk and then reached for a few papers from his left drawer.

"Lets start Roll call.." The teacher began as he called out each students name while they replied back to confirm their presence in class. He finally called out a particular name last but that name didn't responded, he called out a second time but to no avail.

"I guess he's not here" The teacher was about to mark him absence but a loud "Oi!!" from within the other side of the classroom door stopped him from proceeding.

The door slid open to reveal a young man with long crimson hair that was tied back. "I'm... Here" The young man said with a panting voice.

"Renji.. This is the eight time this second semester that you've come late to class, how many disciplinary actions must we make before you learn?. I will not tolerate another tardy, next time you come late you're out of my class room do you understand?" The teacher retorted harshly.

"Yeah.. It won't happen again Sosuke-Sensei" Renji replied with a bow.

"I hope so, please take your seat; you've taken precious time form your fellow classmates with your late presence here" Sosuke-Sensei pointed out to Renji's seat as Renji walked towards his desk.

"Psst, why were you late again, Renji-kun?" Hinamori whispered to Renji who sat one seat behind Renji.

"I forgot to set my alarm last night.." Renji whispered back without turning his head.

"Again?, you're hopeless sometimes you know that" Hinamori giggled a little.

"Hinamori-san, please stand up and tell us about the topic I spoke of a minute ago when you were talking to Renji" Sosuke-sensei said ordering Hinamori to stand up.

Hinamori stood up and began to mumble "Ah...I uh.." She was feeling pressured and embarrassed when she felt the rest of the classroom daggering their eyes at her.

Renji didn't like how Sosuke tried to embarrass his students, especially Hinamori who was an innocent and kind girl Renji respected. Renji stood up while he raised his right hand.

"It was my fault, I made her start the conversation with me"

"You.. Made her?" Sosuke-Sensei said while raising an eyebrow knowing that he was lying to protect Hinamori.

"That's right"

"..Very well. As your punishment for not speaking sooner and disrupting my class, again. You will receive detention after school" Sosuke-Sensei said as some students began to whisper to each other after hearing his punishment.

"Alright, I'll accept the punishment.. But one more thing" Renji slightly turned his eyes to his left to look at Ichigo who was staring out the glass window from his chair.

"That man right there was also part of our conversation!"

Ichigo jolted and quickly looked at Renji "What!?"

"Very well, you'll both get detention after school" Sosuke-Sensei said with a small smirk.

"Renji, you bastard!, why did ya drag me into this!?" Ichigo said getting off his chair.

"Hey, might as well go down like men don't you agree?" Renji replied with a joke.

"What does that have to do with anything?, you don't make any sense!" Ichigo said trying to jump at him but Sado yet again stopped him from doing anything rash.

"Sit down stupid, you're making an unnecessary scene here" Ishida said coldly.

"You two are dead!" Ichigo threatened before he finally sat down and cooled off while class continued.

After school both Ichigo and Renji were left in the classroom along with Sosuke-Sensei who was working on tomorrows essay.

"I'll be taking my break, you two behave while I'm gone" Sosuke-Sensei said while he got off his chair and walked out the classroom.

The sonorous sound of the school clock's hands moving with each passing second gave a feeling of silence in the classroom.

Ichigo finally spoke and said "You bastard, getting me involve in your mess.. Again, what is it that you want this time?" Ichigo asked while facing ahead.

"Don't fret, Ichigo. We should hang out after this, its been a while since spend time together" Renji responded seriously.

"What do I look like?, your mom or something?, why would I want to spend time with you?" Ichigo replied showing a bit of irritation with his reply.

"Of course not stupid!, ever since you started Junior High you've been distant with everyone you knew, including Rukia!" Renji said with a little anger with his words.

Ichigo lifted his right eyebrow and said "Butt off my business and shut up"

Renji sighed and sinked himself on his chair to rest his back on the corner of the chair "Alright, suit yourself" He said as he then heard foot steps getting close with each passing second.

The doors slide open to reveal Inoue and Tatsuki as well as Hinamori.

"Ah, what are you three doing here?, if Sosuke-Sensei sees you you'll get detention" Renji said while getting off his chair to walk towards them.

"I know, but I wanted to apologize from before, It was my fault that you're here, Renji" Hinamori said feeling guilty.

"Ah, Its alright, I'm used to receiving punishment anyways" Renji said cheerfully, trying to cheer her up.

Both Tatsuki and Inoue walked to where Ichigo was sitting at to tell him that plan they wanted to tell him this morning.

"Kurosaki-Kun do you have a minute?" Inoue said cheerfully.

"Nngh?, what is it?" He said as he waited for the question.

"Umm.. Its almost Summer Break and I was thinking if you.. would like to come to the beach with us?" Inoue stuttered with each word due to the fact that she felt a bit nervous to ask Ichigo of such a favor.

"..Actually" Ichigo was about to turn her offer down but Renji ruined his response again "You guys are going to the beach?, sounds like fun!, Hinamori you should come too!" Renji said enthusiastically.

"(Umm, actually I wanted just the three of us to..)" Inoue thought feeling a little down.

"Hey, we can bring Chad and Ishida as well, this idea doesn't sound so bad!" Ichigo said while resting his chin on his hand symbolizing thought.

"Uh, Ichigo, We just wanted.." Tatsuki was about to say that she wanted just the three of them to go but Renji yet again interrupted them when he said "Yeah, we could also bring Rukia, Matsumoto, Kira, Yachiru, Ikkaku, Toshiro, and maybe even Kuchiki-san if he wants to come. Oh boy this will be fun!"

"Invite the whole damn school why don't ya" Ichigo remarked with his usual lazy like response.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea.." Renji began to deeply think of how he was going to drag the whole school to the beach.

"I was being sarcastic!, idiot!"

"Whats going on in here?" Sosuke-Sensei said as he slide opened the door seconds later to find both Renji and Ichigo sitting at their desks alone.

"There's nothing going on in here, Sensei" Renji responded normally.

"... Very well. You two can leave I'll be leaving early today, Lock the door on your way out" Sosuke-Sensei said leaving the classroom.

The door to the classroom closet opened as all three girls dropped to the ground on top of each other.

"Are you girls alright?, lets go home before it gets dark outside" Renji said picking up his school bag as Ichigo did the same.

"A..Alright" All three girls responded feeling a bit dizzy after getting out of the cramped closet that had little to no oxygen.

All five of them walked together that evening, Renji and Hinamori were trilled to go to the beach, Ichigo didn't care as much and both Tatsuki and Inoue felt a little disappointed.

"With so many people around, I don't think that we'll be able to cheer Kurosaki-kun" Inoue whispered quietly to Tatsuki.

"I know what you mean.. But I have an idea" Tatsuki responded with a smile of confidence.

"What is it?" Inoue inquired with interest.

"We'll make sure that everyone but the three of us are distracted on having fun while we sneak out and enjoy ourselves just the three of us like the good old days" Tatsuki said.

"You're right, we could do that!" Inoue said happily. Ichigo slightly turned his head back while he continued to press forward "What are you girls talking about?, are you talking behind my back again?"

"N-no, we're just discussing about the Beach plan and stuff.." Tatsuki quickly replied.

"Y-yeah, what she said, hahaha" Inoue said nervously.

"Nngh, alright then... I'll part from here, see you guys tomorrow" Ichigo said as he parted from the group.

"Oi, Ichigo!, try not to give us a half ass of an excuse and ditch the Beach plan when school is over, you hear!?" Renji shouted. Ichigo waved with his right hand without even turning while he continued on his way.

"Sometimes I wonder what Ichigo is really thinking, I'm starting to assume that he's upset of what I did to him this morning" Renji concluded while wearing an expression of deep thought.

"Its kind of obvious that he would get upset over that Renji-San" Hinamori said with a forced smile.

"You think?. Ah well, he'll get over it tomorrow, lets go I'll walk you home Hinamori" Renji said with a slight blush.

"Ah, I'd like that, thank you Renji-san" Both Hinamori and Renji parted ways from Tatsuki and Inoue who exchanged waves of goodbyes with each other. After that Inoue and Tatsuki went home.

Meanwhile, Ichigo arrived home. There he would expect a sneak attack from his father as he opened the door with caution but nothing happened. He went into the living room and still nothing.

"I guess that crazy old man must of given up" Ichigo said as he walked up the stairs and into his room. He closed the door behind him and saw no signs of a threat. Ichigo sighed and walked towards his bed and relinquished himself on to the soft white sheets.

"I guess he's still working, I haven't seen Karin or Yuzu when I came home from school.." Ichigo said quietly. He then got off his bed and began to work on his homework.

Thirty minutes passed, he was halfway done with his work. He then stopped to think about what they talked about today, about this beach plan they had for summer break.

He pondered quietly if he should go or not, this isn't something he would willingly do and he wasn't the type to take such vacations with others. Although Tatsuki and Inoue will be there as well, he might as well go for their sake even though he had the thought of ditching at first.

"You need a girl, you should go out with Rukia again" Renji said from his opened bedroom window.

"W-What the hell!?, Renji!?" Ichigo said a bit startled by his sudden and unexpected appearance.

"Chill out Ichigo. Anyways you need a girl in your life or something, a flower to bloom your life.. or something" Renji said trying to come up with the right words.

"I don't need you to tell me that!, now get the hell out of my room!" Ichigo shouted trying to force Renji who was trying to get into his room out of his room.

After five minutes of struggle and constant profanity, Ichigo gave up and Renji was uninvited to his room. "Geez this room looks dull and boring, no wonder nobody is interested in you, you have no taste" Renji began to criticize harshly.

"Thats just great, you should just get the hell out of here then" Ichigo voice was more darker and threatening. Renji didn't bother to take heed to the danger he was in and continued to inspect the room.

"Well I didn't come here to start anything. I came here to talk to you about the beach idea we had this morning" Renji said while he continued to look around.

"(What is he psychic or something?)" Ichigo thought quietly. "I honestly don't know, I was thinking of ditching but maybe I should give it a try" Ichigo responded.

"Thats the spirit!. There are only a few weeks left for school. Try not to change your mind till then, I'll see you tomorrow" Renji quickly replied while walking back towards the window.

"Oi!, was that the reason you came all the way here for!?, no, wait!, get out through the front door, the neighbors will start getting the wrong idea if you get out from there!".

A few weeks passed, their second year was over. Ichigo was the top student of his class and fourth best in school. He might look like a trouble maker to many but he's a dedicated and studious person who won't let others put him down because of his looks.

Everyone gathered around with the exemption of Rukia who was also invited to the Beach plan. "Alright so, Matsumoto, Hinamori, myself, Ichigo, Inoue, Tatsuki, Sado, Ishida, Ikakku, Yachiru, Kira, and Toshiro are all present and counted for!" Renji said loudly.

"Umm. where's rukia-san?" Hinamori questioned as she looked around.

"She said that she was going to be there before us since her brother has a meeting to where we're going"

"Uhh, which beach are we going to anyways?" Ichigo asked.

".. Didn't we tell you already?, we're going to Goza Shirahama beach, or were you too thick headed to remember?" Renji said trying to reflect his dumb like expression on Ichigo.

"Shut up, I just forgot thats all" Ichigo said lifting both his eyebrows indicating annoyance.

"Alright, then tomorrow we'll meet by my house at 6:00 A.M. and from there we will walk to the nearest train station, from there we will take another train for Goza Shirahama beach. Try to bring plenty of Yen in case we don't have enough for all the train fees" Renji explained as everyone but Ichigo nodded.

"Yay, I can't wait!, three days and two nights at Goza Shirahama beach, this will be fun!" Hinamori said with excitement.

"Try to get plenty of rest for tomorrow Hinamori-san or we'll leave without ya" Matsumoto teased.

"Wa?, you guys wouldn't leave without me would you?" Hinamori responded a bit sad.

"Of course not. Quit joking around Matsumoto" Toshiro said seriously.

"Hmph, you're such a killjoy Toshiro-kun" Matsumoto said.

Ichigo ignored their stupid conversations and walked home without them "I'll see you guys tomorrow" He said giving a short wave of goodbye.

"Oi!, try not to ass out of the beach plan ya hear!?" Renji shouted.

"For the hundredth time I won't dammit!" Ichigo exclaimed.

**To be Continued... **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I apologize for any spelling errors or bad grammar in there, I do try to write my stories as best I can!. I also don't have much time in my hands due to work and many other things so I apologize in advance for not making many updates to the story. **


	2. The Beach

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is Bleach Related**

**  
Authors Note**

**For those who've been waiting since.. Forever?, I'm sorry for the slight delay.. Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!.**

**Chapter 2: The Beach **

Today was the day, the day Ichigo and the crew went to Goza Shirahama Beach for their Summer Vacation. Ichigo began to pack his things into a bag that he could easily carry. It was more of a sports bag that allowed him to carry a lot of things inside such as essentials like personal hygiene materials, pairs of clothes, extra shoes, a gaming device, and a few books in case he got bored.

"Man, why did I agree to this!?. No, I'm crazy for even doing this!" Ichigo complaint while he continued to stuff his bag. It was five in the morning, he was tired and obviously pissed, but he had to keep his promise and show up on the damn rendezvous point at six along with the others.

The door to his room creaked as a man peeked into his room to check what he was doing. "Gotcha!!" The assailant shouted as his foot missed Ichigo's face and flew across his room to outside his window. Ichigo sighed as the sound of something crashing into the ground was heard from outside.

He grabbed his bag and walked downstairs into the living room. He twisted the door knob and walked out. "I'll see you in a few days, old man" Ichigo said with a slight wave. "O..Okay my boy!" Ishin responded while giving him a thumbs up of approval.

It was still dark outside, the light's outside illuminated the sidewalks for him to see where he was going. He didn't bother to wear a sweater since he already knew of today's weather, 85 degrees today with tomorrow being at its high 90's.

He looked at his watch to see how long he took walking. It was 5:40 A.M. He still had plenty of time left, he was also close, around 5 minutes to where Renji lives.

"I hope I'm not the first one to be there, I don't like to wait too much for the others.." Ichigo continued to complaint to himself, feeling that this was a drag already.

"Are you talking with yourself again?" Toshiro said.

"W..what!!, Don't startle me dammit!!" Ichigo shouted when he saw Toshiro walking besides him, he was small and very silent, that's why Ichigo didn't noticed him at first.

"Shut up, your barbaric screams will wake the whole neighborhood up" Toshiro responded coldly. He was always a brat, arrogant and conceited to the core.

"Don't be a smart ass with me you shrimp!" Ichigo looked pissed and power walked towards Renji's in an attempt to ignore him completely before he bad talked to him again.

"Idiot" Toshiro quietly said with a straight face.

"Ah!, Toshiro!!" Matsumoto shouted from a distance as she ran up to him and embraced him.

"Y..your breast are.. suffocating me.." Toshiro struggled to let a word out while Matsumoto continued to press his tiny head against her chest.

"M..Matsumoto-Chan!, you're going to hurt him!!" Hinamori said who had acompanied Matsumoto.

"Oi!, Ichigo!!, you made it!" Renji shouted while opening the sliding doors to his house for everyone to go inside when he heard Matsumoto's and Hinamori's voice.

"Hey, Renji" Ichigo responded like usual while letting himself in.

"Yay!, Now we'll wait for the others to come and we'll be on our way to fun!" Matsumoto said with excitement while clapping both hands together to show her enthusiasm.

After everyone went inside, Renji closed the sliding doors. Everyone so far rested in his living room. "Alright!, we have Myself, Matsumoto, Ichigo, Hinamori, and Toshiro accounted for!. Now we'll wait till 6:15 A.M. for the rest since the first train for Goza will arrive at 6:45" Renji explained.

"Aww, I want to go now!" Matsumoto whined while making an innocent school girl face.

"Man.. Shu-" Ichigo said but paused when the sliding doors opened. "Are.. we late?" Inoue along with Tatsuki, Sado, and Ishida said as they let themselves in. "No!, Not at all!, glad you guys could make it!" Renji welcomed.

The four found room to rest as they waited for time to continue. "Ugh!, How long do we have to wait for everyone else!?" Tatsuki said after they waited a while for the others to show up.

"Oh, crap!. Its 6:30!, we have to be at the train station and buy our tickets in 15 minutes before the train departs!!" Renji exclaimed.

"What!?, weren't you keeping track of time?!!" Matsumoto shouted.

"Man, you idiot" Ichigo said while getting his things ready as the others did the same.

"Shut up!, we have to time to waste, everyone run!!" Everyone exited with their luggage while Renji locked the door. Everyone ran as fast as they could while the morning sun was slowly brightening the sky.

"This is so stupid!, I knew I should of stayed home!" Ichigo said while thinking to himself that he must look really stupid running for the train in the morning.

"Heh, you're just slow" Renji mocked as he ran past him.

"What's this?, you think you're faster then me or something?" Ichigo glared at him when he caught up to him when he picked up speed.

"You bet your ass!" Renji replied as the two exchanged glares and increased speed while leaving the others behind. They were unseperable.

"Whoa!, look at those two go!" Yachiru said while she skipped besides the others who were running for the train station.

"Yachiru!, you made it!" Hinamori said with relief.

"Yup!, I also had to drag those other two idiots with me!" She pointed back to reveal both Ikakku and Kira following while carrying most of Yachiru's luggage. They looked worned out and tired, they questioned what stuff Yachiru was taking for this trip.

A few minutes later and everyone arrived at the station in time. Both Ichigo and Renji were panting harshly with all the energy exhausted when running to the train station.

"Renji, Ichigo, are you two alright?" Hinamori asked with a bit of concern. "We.. we're alright!" Both gave her a thumbs up while they continued to pant. "W..well okay" she said with a forced smile knowing that they didn't look too well to her.

Everyone paid for their ticket except Ikakku who didn't bring any money. "What!?, I have to pay!?, that's stupid!" Ikakku said loudly thinking that the train didn't have any fees, in fact this is his very first time boarding a train which is extremely rare since Japan needs their train for serious transportation.

"Yeah.. this is the twenty first century you idiot" Toshiro insulted.

"You, the shorty with the hair, step right up" he said while popping his knuckles, getting ready to brawl.

"Tch, I have no time to waste on simple minded fools!, I'm getting on the train already" Toshiro walked towards the checking point and inserted his ticket on a slot to verify his approval to board the train.

The others did the same as they left Ikakku behind. "Fine!, I'll find something to do!" Ikakku said as he turned around but Yachiru pulled his shirt and gave him a ticket.

"Here you go, its your ticket!" She said with a smile.

"What?.. You.. bought me a ticket?" He said as he was touched by her kindness and gentle smile.

She nodded "Yep!, I knew that you were going to be stupid enough to forget something so simple like bringing money!, don't worry, I have some things for you to do to pay me back, now carry my luggage!" she said enthusiastically.

Ikakku's short fuze was getting to him, he somehow knew that something was up when she gave him the ticket, getting something for free was too good to be true. But he had no choice but to follow her orders. Everyone boarded the train before it departed.

Three hours and a lot of complaints and arguments later, they finally arrived at Goza Shirahama. All twelve exited the train station, they were chatting until they were caught by surprise by the sight of a certain someone, someone everyone knew very well.

"Rukia!!" Renji shouted while waving at her but Matsumoto pushed his head down to take a closer look "It really is Rukia!, hey!!" She said out loud while giving a long wave.

"Hello everyone!, its good to see you guys again" She said with a smile. She was wearing a thin light blue dress that was fit for the temperature along with a straw hat to protect her from the sun rays.

"Hello, Rukia-Chan, its been a while since we last saw each other" Hinamori said when she got close to her.

"Ah, hello, Hinamori. Wow, a lot of you came to have fun at the beach. I might have to call for another car since all twelve of us can't really fit inside a limousine. Hold on just a bit" She said while dialing a number.

Matsumoto leaned towards Toshiro and whispered "Psst!, Rukia ignored the fact that Ichigo is here with us!.. What could this mean?"

"Why should I care?" Toshiro bluntly responded knowing that he would get dragged into whatever Matsumoto might be thinking of doing to figure out the reason behind what she said.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head and looked around to get familiar with his surroundings. "Ichigo" Inoue said while gently tapping into his shoulder.

"Nngh?, what is it?" He said almost serious like.

"Is it alright if we cou-" She began to say but was interrupted with Ikakku shouting out to a guy who bumped into him without giving him a word of apology.

"Shut up, Ikakku!" Yachiru said while jumping up to his head level and slapping the back of his shaved head.

"Yes mam.." He said while sobbing himself.

"Check it out, Ikakku is being ordered around by Yachiru" Kira said with a slight laugh.

"Yeah, that's sad man" Renji agreed.

"Alright you two, please step forward" Ikakku said with a threatening sneer while he took out a wooden sword out of his bag.

"Whoa man!, you're going to hurt someone with that!, Wait, you were carrying something like that this whole time!?" Renji said while hiding behind Kira

"Please!, stop fighting you guys!" Hinamori said while trying to stop Ikakku before he went masacre on them.

"Don't stop me, Hinamori!, A man has to fight a bloody battle to defend his honor!. Kira, step forward and face me like a man!"

"A man?, you're threatening two armless guys with a wooden sword!" Kira said with slight fear.

"Alright everyone, the ride's here. Everyone get on!" Rukia said.

Kira sighed with relief as both he and Renji were the first to get on the Limo before the rest. Eight got on the limo along with Rukia while Ichigo, Tatsuki, Inoue and Sado got on another motor vehicle.

Ichigo didn't wanted to join the others because of what happened between him and Rukia. He felt stupid for thinking about that. What happened between them is all in the past, but he couldn't help to bring that back.

"Ichigo... What are you thinking?" Sado said from behind since Ichigo took the passenger seat up front. "N.. nothing, why?" Ichigo stuttered. "... Its nothing" Sado replied with his usual deep tone.

After a few minutes of driving, they made it to the Goza grand hotel in which they were going to stay for a few days.

Everyone was amazed at the scenery and luxury of the hotel as they all got off the vehicles to walk towards the counter to check in.

"My brother has everyone covered now, although since there are twelve of you, you guys will be sharing a room, two per room to be exact.

"Two per room, eh?" Matsumoto said while moving towards Toshiro. "Want to share a room with me.. little Toshiro?" She said with a sexy tone while throwing a sexy pose for him.

"Who would want to room with you!?, I rather be stuck with Ikakku for all I care" Toshiro responded with a slight blush.

"Sorry, but uh.. I have to room with Yachiru.." Ikakku said with disappointment thinking that she was going to use him to do more of her bidding.

"No thanks!, your job is all done now, I want to room with Kira!" She said with a giggle while throwing a wink at him.

"W..wah!?" Kira was speechless as Yachiru forced him away from the group as she grabbed the keys to their room and continued to drag him to their luggage for him to carry for her.

"I'm rooming with Ichigo!, we have things to talk about!" Renji said while embracing Ichigo with his right arm to signal their approval. Ichigo didn't seem to mind, wait he did because he was hell of annoying. He could room with Sado or Ishida, Especially Sado since they've been friends since Jr. High, but it seems that Renji wouldn't of have let him no matter what, he was also kind of curious to know what he wanted to talk about.

"Inoue and I will be roomates then" Tatsuki said obviously since they're always a pair.

"I guess I'll be rooming with, Sado" Ishida said since the two have known each other for a while and he didn't have anyone else in mind to room with since he wasn't well accuainted with most of the ones in this trip.

"Ok then, I'll room with Ikakku like we agreed earlier" Toshiro said as he walked towards him but Hinamori stopped him.

"Wait!, can't we room with each other instead?, we've been friends since we were little!, I would feel more comfortable with you instead!" She plead.

"What does that suppose to mean!?" Matsumoto said when she overheard their conversation.

".. Whatever" Toshiro responded while Hinamori let out a small 'yay'.

"What!?, so I'm going to room with baldy here!?" She complaint but everyone else were gone.

"Damn those bastard.. leaving me with this troublesome woman" Ikakku said while shaking his fist.

".. Okay then, if you're going to be my roommate then take my stuff to our room, now!" She said with an upset tone as she walked towards the elevator.

"Arrgh!, what am I?, some kind of transportation mule or something!?" He said while grabbing both their things and followed her to the elevator.

Everyone went to their rooms to unload their things and rest after a long trip. Ichigo looked at their bedroom and was shocked to find the most horrible thing anyone would think when rooming with a person of the same sex as he is, something that he was completely against of. He wanted to run and leave this hotel for good, this was like torture, there was no way that he could have fun while sharing a room like this. It was complete agony compressed into pure anger for agreeing to this.

"One bed.. that sucks man" Renji said with a straight face.

"You're sleeping on the floor!" Ichigo said as he let himself drop on the bed to rest himself.

"Its a twin bed!, we can share this!" Renji said as he tried to find room to rest in but Ichigo quickly countered and tried to kick him away.

"Hell no!, that's gross!" Ichigo said as he struggled to push him away.

"Its a twin bed dammit!, there's plenty of room for two!, and what's so gross about it, huh!?, are you having some perverted fantasy about me!?" Renji said.

"Shut up stupid!, what gave you the idea that I was!?" Ichigo yelled as he pushed Renji's face with his foot but he retaliated and countered by locking his arms and legs.

"Umm.. Ichigo.." Rukia let herself in and noticed Renji and Ichigo wrestling on the bed. Their position would make anyone get the wrong idea immediately "Umm.. Did I come at a bad time?" She said with a forced laugh.

"Wah!?, Rukia, why are you here?" Renji said as Ichigo finally kicked him on the face and forced him off the bed. "Rukia, its not what it looks like!" Ichigo exclaimed.

Rukia looked serious as she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.

"I'm not lying!" Ichigo said with embarrassment knowing that Rukia was getting the wrong idea of what she saw.

"Relax, I was just teasing.. Anyways I'm here to talk to you about something, Ichigo" Rukia said cheerfully.

Ichigo looked at her and noticed that look in her eyes. She wanted to talk about something important that only involved the two of them "Renji, can we be alone for a bit?" Ichigo asked.

Renji observed the two for a moment before noticing that they were serious. "Alright then, don't do anything dirty while I'm gone!" He said jokingly as he rushed out the door before Rukia smacked him on the head.

Rukia sighed and walked towards Ichigo who was sitting on the twin sized bed. "Its been a while since we last saw each other" Rukia started.

"Yeah" Ichigo replied. "Have... you been doing well?" She continued almost like if she was nervous to ask him questions.

"I guess" He bluntly replied. "I see" She sat down next to Ichigo while playing with her fingers like if she was in deep thought of what to say next. "(Why am I so nervous?.. Is it because I haven't seen him for so long?..)"

"Rukia" Ichigo said which startled Rukia but at the same time, it brought back a nostalgic feeling when Ichigo used to call her by her name with that calm tone of his back when they were dating. "What is it?" She said almost quietly while her heart began to steadily beat.

"Lets forget about the past" Ichigo said before getting up. "Its stupid to let something like that bother us you know?" He said while scratching his head, he was trying to find the right words that might not upset her or make her sad.

"How could you say that!?" Rukia said while getting up to look at him on the eyes. Ichigo turned and waited to hear more of what she wanted to say but she hesitated "Nevermind.."

"What is it, Rukia?" Ichigo wanted to know what was on her mind, Rukia continued to hesitate while looking down on the ground. "Ichigo.. I" She paused as someone began to knock on the door.

"What is it?" Ichigo said while walking towards the door.

"Ichigo, Its me, hurry up and open the door"

"Ishida?" Ichigo said before opening the door. "Ishida, what do you want?"

"I hate being the messenger, but both Inoue and Tatsuki want to talk with you. Don't let them wait any longer, hurry up" Ishida said before walking away.

"Arrgh, alright, fine!" Ichigo walked back to his sports bag and quickly changed his shirt. "Sorry, but I have to go" Ichigo said without even looking at her as he walked back to the exit and left.

Rukia sighed and closed her eyes "Idiot.."

"Ichigo walked out of the elevator and rushed towards Ishida who was with Sado, Inoue and Tatsuki. "Oi, whats up" Ichigo said before stopping next to them.

"Ichigo!, lets go to the beach!" Tatsuki said while grabbing Inoue by the shoulders to signal just the three of them.

"Umm, sure" Ichigo turned to look at both Sado and Ishida "Are you guys coming or what?"

"No, we're going to look around to get familiar with the place, you three have fun at the beach. Lets go, Sado" Ishida said. "Later.." Sado said before following Ishida.

"Come on, Ichigo!, lets go!" Tatsuki said while grabbing hold of his right arm and pulled him along with Inoue to the beach.

The three were starting to enjoy their time on the beach, just the three of them like the good old days. They went swimming with Ichigo being challenged to a race against Tatsuki. He lost. They made sand structures with Inoue making the most unique one. They played with a beach ball and went to explore areas of the beach. Ichigo actually smiled after so long, it was proof that he was having fun with this. Eventually the hours went by fast when they were having fun, it was already late.

"We're heading back!, we'll see you tomorrow, Ichigo!" Inoue mustered her strength to say it to Ichigo. "Alright, bye Inoue" Ichigo waved back as they departed. He stayed behind to take a walk on the beach as the waves pressed against his feet gently. He sighed and only stared at the full moon off into the stars. There were no clouds in sight, just the radiant moon that gave lighting into the setting.

After a moment of peace he decided to head back "Man.. What was I thinking staying here for anyways?" Ichigo said to himself while leaving his foot prints on the sand just for them to be washed away by the waves.

On that moment, before he reached the steps that would take him up to the hotel, he saw a person who was walking alone on the beach this late at night. He wondered why she was still out, normally he didn't give a damn and likewise he walked up the stairs. He was then thinking if he should ask what she was doing and was suddenly trapped in his own inner conflict.

"Ah, dammit" Ichigo turned back to talk to the person and ask him or her to head back because it was getting late. "Wait.. What am I doing?, am I some sort of watch dog or something!?".

"Wha!?.. Who's there!?" The person who happened to have a young female voice said as she turned, startled by his voice when he talked to himself. "Oh.. I.. Uh..(What do I say now?)" Ichigo thought to himself as the girl slowly walked towards him. "Are you stalking me or something!?, if so I'm going to scream!" She threatened.

"Why you!, I was going to ask you to head back to the Hotel because it was late!.. Damn" Ichigo said as he turned back but the girl stopped him before he continued. "Tell me to head back?, what are you some kind of watch dog or something!?". Ichigo placed his right hand on his face while having the most irritated expression he's ever mustered "(My.. Thought exactly)".

"So, Mr. watchdog.. Why did you really come here for?"

"Stop calling me that!, I'm not a watchdog!" Ichigo denied as he continued his way back.

"Hold on!, why are you leaving me alone for!?"

"Ugh.. Why am I even talking to this girl?.. Look, I'm heading back, just forget that you ever saw me"

"Then at least tell me your name!" She inquired as she slightly ran towards him.

".. Ichigo Kurosaki"

"..Strawberry?, that's a weird name for a guy, hahaha!" The girl said bursting with laughter.

"No!, Ichigo means 'One who protects', don't get it confused with something lame and cheesy, geez.." Ichigo brushed her off.

"You have no manners!, how dare you leave without asking for MY name!?"

"Ehhh" Ichigo said lazily while he continued up the steps. "Fine!, at least hear it, its Senna!, Senna Fon"

Ichigo turned to look at her as she wore an upset look on her face. He was in thought again to either leaver her there or let her accompany him "Alright, Senna.. Lets go to the hotel together then"

"Eh?, are you picking me up or something?" She asked quizically.

Ichigo has never been more pissed in his life "Go to hell!"

After that, the two made it to the Hotel's entrance where they departed. She waved goodbye before running off to the elevator. Ichigo sighed thinking that his fun had been interrupted by that annoying girl he happened to come cross with. "I need some sleep"

"Yo.. Ichigo.. Who was that girl?" Renji inquired while he rested his arm on his shoulder. Ichigo chocked on his saliva, he should get used to Renji's random appearances by now, but he just scares the hell out of him when he least expects him. "What is it now?" Ichigo asked.

"I just told you, man you're dense.. Did anything happen between you and that girl?".

"Nothing happened, I'm going to sleep" With that Ichigo brushed him off and entered the elevator without Renji. He entered his room after arriving at the floor where his room was located and let himself fall into the bed. He was thinking of how today went before his eyes gave up on him as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**To be Continued... **


	3. Festival

**A/N: Well, I decided to continue writing for this story, so hurray?!. To those who were waiting for an update(Seriously?!), my apologies!. Anyways, my style of writing has slightly changed and improved I guess. I stopped writing for a good while until recently when I decided to write that one other story. I'm not going to make any promises on this one, so updates might take long. If you like it then cool!, criticism is encouraged. Thank you for reading!.**

**Chapter 3: Festival  
**

The second day of a wonderful vacation shared by the friendship that everyone from Karakura town high partake in. However, to Ichigo its become more of a pain in the ass already. But at least he got to sleep in one of the most comfortable beds he's ever slept in. With a hot shower followed by bed with the window opened all night was all he needed to keep him content. The waves of the ocean and the birds singing with the start of the morning was pure bliss and tranquility.

He didn't think that one could sleep so well without the rude awakening of his father who only lives to torment his daily life and ruin any decent dreams he might of had that night. Unfortunately for our protagonist; Ichigo's moment of peace was interrupted by something very, disturbing. Something that some would consider, gay. Of course, if you're a fan girl, this is completely normal and highly acceptable. In fact, its encouraged with such vigor that we men tend to get scared sometimes.

"Nngh.. uh.. huh?" Ichigo slowly opened his eyes, slowly gaining his vision after a good nigh sleep, his body telling him to stay in bed for a few more minutes. The ceiling was bright with the sun's rays brightening the room with a sun rise yellow. After gather his thoughts, he couldn't help but notice this heavy feeling in his chest. Ichigo who was still half asleep, moved his hand around and felt something thick and heavy, yet slightly mushy.

"What the?" To his surprise he turned his head to the side and saw Renji's drooling face, his pillow slightly wet from the saliva that ran down from his opened mouth.

Renji had fallen asleep besides him without Ichigo noticing. To make matters worse, he was drooling close to him and embracing him like if they were newlyweds. He did smell nice though, the aroma of axe shower gel and premium hair brand were a nice combination for a man of his stature. Wait, this isn't the time to admire his hygiene, especially when its a guy like Ichigo who is in total shock and possibly traumatized by this scenario.

"AAAAAHHHH!!"

"Whoa!!... Wha.. what is it?!" Renji quickly got up to the sudden scream that startled him from his sleep. Confusion and panic still engulfed him as he fell off the bed, flat on his back as he hit the back of his head on the hard wooden polished floor. "Ouch.."

Ichigo, still pissed, got off bed and grabbed Renji by the white tan top and smashed his head against his, furthering his punishment. "What the hell, Renji?!. I thought I told you to sleep in the couch!!" He remembered the rock, paper, scissors game they played last night which determined the winner's right to sleep alone in bed.

"Damn, that hurt!" Renji complained, head bleeding from the impact of Ichigo's insane headbutt. ".. Sorry man, but that couch was crummy and small. We HAD to share a bed, how else could I fall asleep?" Renji defended his actions, Ichigo's eye twitching to his bull of an excuse. This isn't the first time Renji's pulled something like this on him, he still remembered all the crap he's put him through, the worse being the shower incident. But we don't want to go there.

Ichigo, face palmed with ideas on how to deal with Renji in situations like these. He's planned them out in his head over and over, orchestrating every possible event so that when the time comes, he would execute them without fail. Only in his fantasies because doing any of them for real was forbidden and illegal here in Japan.

"Argh, whatever.. Just don't tell anyone!" Ichigo shoved him down and got off him. He turned and saw Hinamori standing by the door of their door-less bedroom. She was blushing with who knows what thoughts running through her mind. His eyes never looked any more darker then they are now. Aside from sharing the same bed, the fool forgot to lock the door at night. It had to be Hinamori who found them like that of all people.

"Hahaha.. Hinamori. Its not what you think, I actually have a good reason for doing it" Renji tried to explain but Ichigo kicked him in the face before he got another word out.

"Quit throwing more ideas into her head already!, don't you think you've traumatized her enough?!"

"What's wrong with you?!.. Ack!"

"I'll.. Come back another time.. Haha.." Hinamori tried to sneak out but Ichigo caught her and forced her to look at him. With a serious look on his face, he tried to explain the situation to her as calmly as possible "Wait.. Don't tell anyone about this.. I mean, Its not what it looked like.. Argh, what am I saying?!" Ichigo started panicking, not knowing what to tell her because either excuses he tried to make sounded worse.

".. What Ichigo is trying to say is that we didn't do anything.. 'Special' if you get my drift"

"Renji!!"

"What?!. What else do you want me to say?; That we slept contently together at night while I embraced you to protect your mind and body with my rock hard biceps?" He joked, while having that smiled that said that he was too good for him.

"Aaaah!, you two have THAT kind of relationship?!" Rangiku shrieked, suddenly appearing at the scene of the crime. Her smile obviously getting the same wrong idea as Hinamori.

Renji tried to deny it and continued to defend their misunderstanding. Ichigo's rage boiled as he forcefully kicked everyone out of their room with the horsepower of a thousand angry strawberries.. ".. And Stay out!" He shouted before shutting the door and locking the other three out.

"Hold on, I still have to change!" Renji knocked by slamming his hands on the door with Rangiku giggling to herself in front of Hinamori. "Love quarrels are so fun!"

Meanwhile..

Rukia was down the lounge to drink some tea. Her vacation wasn't what she had expected since she wanted to somehow get back with Ichigo and enjoy the rest of their vacation. She then started to remember when they were dating back in spring of last year. The two of them were having fun together. Ichigo was always so uptight, but still had the qualities of an everyday high school guy. He just needed a push, a significant one that nobody has successfully done.

Rukia in a way was different, she was the only one who could give him that significant push, no one else has been able to release that side of him. She remembers Tatsuki once telling her that Ichigo was a carefree and fun person when he was a child, but also acted like a momma's boy. He was always attached to his mother and followed her everywhere she went, like a chick following its mother along with the rest of its siblings. It warmed the heart just looking at them, he was always holding her hand wherever they went. He always smiled so gently in front of her.

That was until the day of the accident.. The same innocent and pure child they once knew died along with his mother that night. He stopped crying, he stopped caring. He became apathetic and hardly became social with anyone. The world became different, like if he lost the balance to his happiness.. His smile, perished. Leaving only an empty shell.

He has not once forgotten about his mother. Every day after school and even during his days off; he would stop by the river where his mother was killed. They don't know the details of how she ended up near the river, but they do know that his mother died protecting him while she held him on her arms. Ichigo never cared what happened to the drunk driver who killed her, he never cursed him or hated him. He only regretted not being strong enough for her when she needed help.

His biggest regret was being weak to do anything. He failed to protect her.

The years had passed, Ichigo continued unchanged until he met Rukia. Somehow she managed to bring that boy back to life, her aura and her charm was somewhat like his mothers, he could feel it. His smile was returning and when Tatsuki saw it for the first time in such a long time, she started crying. She had been trying so long to bring the old Ichigo back, the same kid she grew up with, but her efforts were always futile. She failed so miserably compared to Rukia who was nothing but a stranger to him for a year before they started to grow attached to each other.

Rukia sighed and took another sip of her tea. She began to think of what went wrong, what wrong steps she took "(Why did it end like that?. Why?.. No, I'm the one to blame. Why did I trust him to begin with?.. HIM of all people.. Because of him.. Ichigo and I broke up..)"

"Hey, Rukia!" Renji shouted with both Rangiku and Hinamori following behind. Rukia almost chocked on her tea and sat the cup down, she was startled after being in such deep thoughts.

"Oh.. Morning guys" She said with a forced smile, still trying to return to reality.

"You alright, Rukia?. You don't look well" Renji inquired with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine"

Rangiku and Hinamori joined them as all three took a seat. "So, what do you have planned for today, Rukia?" Hinamori asked with Rukia looking down, ready to break the bad news to them. "I'm not staying here for long.. I have to go with my brother on an important business meeting in Akita"

"Really?. I spoke with your brother last night and he said that he'll be down at the beach this morning. I came down here to ask you if you wanted to join us" Renji said quizzically. Rukia was shocked but at the same time not surprised. Both Renji and her brother have been good friends for a long time ever since they were young. Byakuya was the oldest of the three, only three years older then the two.

Byakuya immediately took the position as vice president of Exoni Corporations, a milti trillion yen electronics company that has many businesses around the world. With such a position at hand, it was very difficult for him to hang out with his friends and family. Not to mention the constant publicity and popularity he garnered with his good looks, and intellectual prowess. He was the ideal person to take over Exoni once their father retires.

"You're making an excuse to not hang out with me, huh?. Is it because you're flat chested and embarrassed to be seen with us?" Rangiku said while putting her arm around Hinamori.

"W.. what?!. Take that back!!" Rukia snapped, hands slamming across the table.

"She has a point. I mean.." Renji started, to his ignorance by not knowing the price he has to pay for his fatal error of insulting a woman's growth.

Ten minutes later the three met at the beach. Renji had the typical red hand mark on his face, symbolizing his failure of acknowledging a woman's temper. They can be pretty nasty. After a minute or two of conversations, they arrived at the meeting spot.

"You're late" Byakuya said while he applied sun lotion on his arm while resting in a chair he had brought down along with a large umbrella to protect him from the sun. He was well built, skin looking as flawless as ever and his hair silkier and more beautiful then either of the three girls. He was the ideal man for any woman. Unfortunately for anyone obsessing over him right now; he has very, very high standards.

"Ooh!, Byakuya, you look pretty good today!. Will you go out with me tonight?!" Rangiku, our brave contender asked with the most seductive voice and puppy eyes she could muster. "Not interested" Byakuya flatly responded, shooting her down harder then she had first anticipated.

"Haha, pwned!" Renji laughed with Rangiku whimpering and Hinamori trying to comfort.

"Renji. long time no see" He turned, extending his arm to shake his hand. "Yeah.. Man you look cooler every time I see you" he complimented. "Heh, and your qualities are downgrading the more I see you. Is that another tattoo around your neck?. You do know its forbidden to have exposed tattoos in school"

"Oh man, don't say that!, and don't worry, my uniform pretty much covers my neck side so no worries!.. As for Gym I wear a patch.." he explained while sobbing the right side of his neck where he had the tattoo.

"I see" Byakuya closed his eyes as the two continued their conversation, mostly relating school and recent hobbies along with their favorite television shows.

Rukia turned to the beach with the wind slightly blowing their way, she stood idle for a minute before.. "Um. I think I'll go for a walk" She said with a smile. "Oh!, we'll go with you!" Hinamori offered but Rukia gave her the impression that she wanted to be alone. She understood and instead stayed behind with the others as Rukia walked off into the beach alone.

The sand looked warm with the sun's rays heating the surface; Her feet sinking slightly into the grainy ground. Her sandals were getting sand all over, something that started bothering her so she took them off and decided to carry them by hand. Walking in the sand with her bare feet wasn't so bad after all.

People around her were enjoying themselves by making sand castles; getting a tan; enjoying the view; swimming and playing with beach balls in either the sand or water. She started to think that she was just being gloomy, not appreciating the fact that she's out here and now in the beach. People normally take vacations to enjoy themselves, not wonder around alone.

With thoughts clouding her mind, she just realized that she had walked quite a way's off from the main hotel resort where she's staying. She had ended up in a rocky area closer to the sea where the waves crashed into its walls. She was in a relatively safe distance just as long as she didn't get too close to the rampaging sea.

"Oh geez.." She said to herself, noticing beyond the rocky path, a beach with another hotel resort. "I think I walked too far without thinking.." She stopped and was ready to turn back until she heard a scream.

"Let me go already!!"

It was a girl's voice, she might be in trouble. Rukia quickly went to check where that voice came from and found them. They were near the end of the rocky ledge wall. There she saw a girl around her age and a tall muscular male, maybe an adult. "Hey!, let her go!!" Rukia shouted as she ran towards him and kicked him in the groin, forcing him to let the girl go to cover his exposed weakness.

"Arrgh!!.. Why you little..!"

Rukia quickly grabbed the girl who was startled by the assault and pulled her away from him. "Hurry, I don't think I can surprise him like that a second time!"

"Ah.. Yes!" The girl consented, following Rukia with the Goliath regaining his composure to pursue the two. "Come back here!!" The man was big, but fast. Rukia thought that they could easily lose him if they traversed the rocky field, but the bronzed skinned behemoth was only going faster then before, catching up to them in seconds. "Uwah!" Rukia tripped and fell forward after spraining her ankle. The girl went back to help her but the man reached her and grabbed her arm.

"Hah.. I have you!" He sneered. Rukia's eyes widening, frightened at the possibility that he was going to hurt her. "No!, let her go!" The girl shouted, jumping on his arm only to bite him with all the power she had. "Gah!!" He shouted in pain as he swung his arm violently to toss her into a rock, injuring her head as a result. "No!" Rukia exclaimed, seeing the girl loosing consciousness.

"Feh.. Serves her right for attacking me" The man said sobbing his bitten arm.

"Hey.."

Rukia gasped and the giant reacted to defend only to end up with a sandal to the face as his attacker landed on his face, knocking him in the ground. "Ugh.." He made a sigh of silent pain before passing out after the back of his head was slammed into the hard surface. ".. Huh, he went down quicker then I thought.." The orange haired hero said while scratching the back of his head before turning his attention to Rukia.

"Are you alright?" He asked, hands on his pockets. Rukia stared at him for a brief moment before remembering the girl she tried to save. "Oh no.. hey!" She rushed to her aid. She was still conscious, but hurt pretty bad with the back of her head bleeding. "Did that guy do this?!" Ichigo said, wearing the same old serious look on his face.. "(Wait.. I know her.. Its that annoying girl from yesterday)"

"Yeah.. But we have to get her to the hotel first!" Rukia ordered. Ichigo, despite his dislike to be ordered around by anyone, agreed to her plan and carried her on his back. After he sprinted for a brief moment, he noticed Rukia running awkwardly. "Rukia, are you hurt?!"

".. I think I sprained my ankle.. But I'll be fine. Just go and get her to safety, hurry!" She ordered again. Ichigo was skeptical to leave her behind, but he had no choice at the matter but go forth without her. "Just take it easy, I'll come back for you!" He said out loud before dashing and running with all he's got.

Rukia watched him off, smiling at the things he said to her. "Don't talk like that you fool.." She looked down, her face red after replaying that moment in her head over and over. She continued moving forward to escape the rocky terrain, getting support from nearby rocks which she could grabbed on to.

0o0

The tall guy which Ichigo had knocked into the ground twitched and moaned. "Ouch.. Damn that bastard!.." he sobbed his head, the pain still there.

"Whoa.. Yami. You got your ass kicked or something?" A young man with light blue hair and matching eyes approached him while wearing a huge grind in his face. ".. Joseph. What the hell are you doing here?" Yami inquired, still sobbing the back of his head before getting on his feet.

"Hey, use my nickname when we're outside idiot. Anyways pops is calling us. The five of us are going to the festival today. Come on!" He kicked him on the back of his leg to make him lose his balance. "Why you!.. and I don't want to go to the festival with Tosen. You and pops always ruin my fun!"

"Heh, quit being a pussy and lets go!, its our last day in this town before we move to Karakura town and finish our high school life there, so lets enjoy ourselves by causing some chaos around here to remember us by, hahaha!!" He laughed out loud before walking back, Yami following him.

Meanwhile..

Ichigo made it back along with the girl who was injured. Immediately after they arrived, the hotel staff contacted the paramedics while attending to her wound before they got there. Ichigo looked as pissed as always, maybe even more pissed then usual due to the fact that the guy ended up hurting the two in the end.

The paramedics arrived and took over from there. It seemed that she had lost consciousness while they boarded her in the ambulance. "Okay, time to head back!" Ichigo said out loud, running back as fast as he could despite his stamina almost drained from carrying Senna, who surprisingly remembers her name after hearing it once, but before he could go any further, he noticed Byakuya going inside along with Rukia on his back.

"B.. Byakuya" Ichigo said, surprised and not very pleased to see him. "Kurosaki. It seems you still lack education. Do not call me by my first name unless I allow you to". Ichigo glared with Rukia sensing the tension between them. "Um.. My ankle is hurting.." She said, trying to end their conversation before things got nasty. She remembered the last time they got into an argument. It ended in a fight which Ichigo easily lost to despite his reputation as the toughest student in Karakura town next to Sado as the second.

"Very well" He walked forward, nearly pushing Ichigo aside so that he could pass and reach the counter to contact the paramedics. ".. That bastard" Ichigo said quietly, turning back to the elevator to reach his hotel room. Just that little moment ruined his day. At least he had one more day before he went back.

Soon, after reaching his floor, he saw Renji waiting in front of their shared hotel room door with his arms crossed and eyes closed. "So, how did it go this time?" He said, knowing what had happened. "I don't want to talk about it" Ichigo said, slightly pushing him aside to get in with Renji following behind while closing the door after the two went inside. "You two just can't seem to get along huh?, I think its that orange hair of yours"

"Shut up" He said lazily, sighing before taking a seat on the couch while turning the Tv on to see if anything interesting was on. "I don't mean to pry, but as long as you continue to see Rukia; Byakuya will continue to give you a hard time" Renji explained, dropping himself in the couch besides Ichigo with his arms spread.

Ichigo was silent, blankly staring at the Tv, not focusing on the Girls Gone Wild beach edition commercial which got Renji glued to the television. "I can't just forget about her. No matter how much I try.." He said quietly with Renji mindlessly agreeing to whatever he was saying. He was dialing something on the phone and not to his surprise; he was planning on ordering the video ".. I'm going to sleep"

"Hey, I was just kidding about this" He turned the Tv off and rested his left foot against the small table in front. "So, why are you having second thoughts all of a sudden?. Its not like you man" He said, picking his ear.

Ichigo was silent while he scratched the back of his head. He didn't know how to respond to that. "Yeah, I guess you're right..". "Don't 'I guess you're right' me. Give me a decent answer!" Renji got up, trying to make Ichigo face him. "Well.." He sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. ".. I don't know. I must be going nuts then, I can't really answer it"

Renji sighed from boredom and turned to their room. "This is boring. I'm going to sleep" He walked away, leaving Ichigo to think to himself. ".. Hey wait!, I'm not sharing the bed again!"

The next day..

Ichigo had taken a bath after a long day yesterday. He went down to the lobby and into the lounge to find something to eat. "Man, I'm hungry". Luckily for him, the cafe was opened early during summer. He bought a tuna salad sandwich and tea and sat down in a nearby empty table by the corner of the lobby where people rarely go to.

"Ichigo?"

He looked up and noticed Senna walking towards him. She was observing him, wondering if he really was Ichigo. "Hey" He greeted, looking at her to check if she was fully healed. Maybe but the bandage around her head made him a little concerned. "Um.. About yesterday" She scratched the top of her head with embarrassment. The Paramedics told her how she got there and who brought her to safety. The orange colored hair was easy to identify since its not everyday that you see someone with such hair color.

Ichigo knew where this was going, he nodded his head slightly and said "Yeah" He took a sip from his tea and continued to stare at her. "What?" He felt awkward when someone stared at him without saying a word. Senna was a bit hesitant to give her thanks since its rare that she does. "Do you.. Would you like to go to the festival.. Tonight, at seven?"

Ichigo lifted his eyebrow, wondering where she was getting at. "Are you hitting on me or something?" He said with an annoyed face, thinking that she might be messing with him. "No, no!. I'm.. Uh, trying to thank you.. So" she bit her lower lip, waiting with anticipation for his answer. "Then just say thank you. You don't need to go through the trouble of doing that"

He was trying to be in a way, nice to her. But Senna took it hard. "Nevermind!" She turned and walked away. Ichigo didn't know what he did to conjure such a reaction, but he didn't wanted to let this go until they had an understanding, otherwise this will bug him for a while. "Hey, wait!" He caught up with her and stopped her by grabbing on to her arm.

"Sorry.. I think we had a misunderstanding here" He looked down with guilt, trying to think what he did wrong because in his mind, he didn't do anything wrong. Its safe to apologize and see where that will take him. He turned to look at her and darted his gaze upon hers. He couldn't read minds because he wondered why she hasn't said anything yet. "Uh.. I'll pick you up at seven.. Should I meet you here?"

Senna smiled and nodded. "Yeah"

"(.. That was odd)" He thought with Senna running off and waving goodbye. "Hmph" he closed his eyes and turned back

"Oh, morning Ichigo"

Ichigo opened his eyes and saw Rukia walking towards him. He made sure to look around, he didn't feel like confronting her brother today. "Morning" He replied, going back to his table to finish his sandwich. "So, what is it?" He inquired, Rukia caught off guard while she played with her fingers. "Well, there's this festival this evening.."

"(Crap..)" He thought. ".. Would you like to accompany me?. It'll be just the two of us.." She said, hoping for a good answer. "Well, you see.." He face palmed, thinking of an excuse to give her, but Rukia read him like a book. He was so predictable. ".. So, you've already made plans then"

"Yeah.." He looked away, relieved that he didn't have to lie to her or make himself look like an ass. "I see. Well then. Hope you have a nice day" She turned her back on him and walked away, disappointed at his response.

Ichigo got up "Hey!, what is that supposed to mean?" Again faced with a similar problem today, but this time, he didn't go after her to clear their misunderstanding. "Its nothing" She continued walking, embarrassed of her actions and lack of courage to confront him more directly.

It looked like today didn't look very promising for him, he predicted that today will be long. Long and a pain to deal with.

The rest of today he spent it with the guys. They started playing an assortment of games such as volleyball, tag, wrestling, races, hide and seek, and even went as far as doing a sand castle contest. Ichigo lost to all of them with Renji taking almost all the glory from all of them. "Damn you Renji" Ichigo said, pissed for losing so much. "Haha, come on, Ichigo. We came here to have fun!. Plus you owe us lunch tomorrow!" He said cheerfully while slapping the back of his head.

"Hm. Today was. Fun" Sado said with his heavy monotonic voice, a smile slightly forming on his face. "Yeah. I'm beat. I think I'll head back. I need to get some rest for today's festival" Ishida said, helping Ichigo remember what he had planned today. "That's right.. I'll go back also.. See ya!" He waved before running back to the hotel.

"Huh. Why would he run off like that after you mentioned the festival?. Could it be that he has a date or something?" Renji said with his hand placed on his chin. "Maybe. A date with Rukia" Sado pitched in with the others surprised. "If even Ichigo can get a date.. I should ask Hinamori to accompany me!" He said before running off like if he was sprinting towards a clearance sale.

"That's right. We can't let Ichigo beat us. Lets go, Sado!" Ishida said, running after him. "I doubt that I could get a date" Sado said to himself. Walking behind them with very little enthusiasm.

Evening

Ichigo went down to the lobby ten minutes before seven to meet up with Senna, but when he got there, she was already sitting in a chair, waiting for him. Like always her hair tied in a ponytail but this time she wore a black skirt and a small pink shirt ".. How long were you waiting?" He sprinted a bit to reach her. "Ten minutes" She said, proud of herself for being there earlier then him. "Alright, lets go" He signaled with his head with Senna running past him. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"What?!. Hell no!" He exclaimed, running as fast as he could to beat her.

Their race lasted for ten minutes. Their destination was closer to the hotel and with the speed they were going, it was a breeze getting there, and hey, Ichigo even received the title 'Rotten Egg' for losing the race.

Throngs of people covered the streets, with thousands watching street performers and listening to various music artists playing all sorts of unique instruments. "Try not to get separated" Ichigo warned with the two struggling to get through the crowd. "Okay" She reached for the sleeve of his black hoodie and grabbed it tightly.

Ichigo suddenly felt a surge of nostalgia, remembering the days when Rukia used to grab him by the sleeve because she was too shy to hold his hand during school and in public areas. "Good.. Just don't let go or I'll lose you" He said, making a pissed off face to repel his blush. "Okay" She said.

The two made it to the festival. It was crowded but not as much as out on the streets.

There were countless stands filled with games, food, and accessories to buy. Just on the other side were the rides, one that Senna loves to ride. "Oh!, lets go to the Ferris wheel!" She said enthusiastically, jumping up and down while still holding on his sleeve. ".. I think we should hang out here first and then go to the rides"

"That can wait!. Lets go!!" She locked her arm with his and dragged him from his will. "Wait!.." He tried to protest but she wouldn't listen. She was like a little kid, eager to try something new.

As the two walked across the festival, Rukia spotted Ichigo, but before she went to approach him, she noticed that he was hanging out with a girl.. The same girl she helped yesterday. "..."

"What's wrong, Rukia?" Byakuya asked, returning with their cotton candy that he went to buy. "Its nothing, big bro" She smiled, taking the cotton candy he offered. "Lets go then" He ordered while extending his right hand. She locked her hand with his as they continued to wonder around the festival. "You know.. I'm not a kid anymore" She complained, while looking away to hide her embarrassment.

"As long as you're under my care, you must follow my instructions. I do not wish to lose you in this crowd" He scolded, typical of him.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the festival.

"Alright kids. Try not to cause trouble and just enjoy yourselves. This will be our last festival here" Tosen, their father said. He was dark skinned and wore unique clothing that is not identified as, 'Japanese', obviously. "Especially you, Joseph. Be good to your little brother, Yami" Hisana, a refined Japanese woman who usually wears kimono's during any events. She smiled and brushed Joseph's hair with her hand.

"Come on, ma!. I'm not a little kid anymore!" Joseph moved her hand with both hands while trying to get some distance from her. "Try not to embarrass me, Joseph" said, Ulquiorra, a melancholy looking young man with medium sized black hair and pale skin. "That's my line!. Try not to pass out before anything fun happens!" Joseph said, running off with a big grin in his face.

"Fool" Ulquiorra said, going his own way with Yami following him; Yami always follows Ulquiorra around, more so because he's the oldest and coolest of the three. "So, where are we going, Ulquiorra?" Yami asked, excitement in his voice. "Just hang out. Although I'm interested to see what Joseph has in mind"

"Yeah, me too!" Yami said with excitement, the two going through the crowd to follow the path Joseph had taken.

**To be Continued...**

**A/N: I'm only going to focus on Ichigo, Senna, Rukia, Renji, and a few others along with the antagonists which will be Joseph(Aka, Grimmjow), Yami and Ulquiorra. I added them to add drama in late chapters(That and I want to shove an UlquiorraxOrihime moment in there ;D. Hope you enjoyed the mini IchigoxRenji moments! XD  
**


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